1. Field of the Invention
This invention broadly concerns forming panels used in casting cementatious materials such as concrete in the building construction field. More particularly, it is concerned with a forming panel having a channel which includes a threaded slot provided on the side of the panel facing away from the cementatious material which permits attachment of various members to the form, such as form hardware ties used for holding opposing panels in a fixed relationship during pouring and curing of the concrete and for attachment of other accessories such as braces, brackets for walers, saddles and the like, scaffolding, and plugs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Forming panels are well known in the construction industry as providing a system for retaining flowable cementatious material such as concrete in a desired shape during pouring and curing. Forming panels of metal represent a significant advance over panels of wood because of their durability which permits their removal and reuse on successive construction projects. One typical use of such forming panels is the formation of upright walls including foundation walls, above-grade walls, parapet walls and the like.
Such metal forms are typically modular in character such that a number of panels are coupled together to providing a forming system. Such forming systems are generally shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,708,315, 4,744,541, 4,958,800, 4,976,401, 4,978,099, 5,058,855, 5,080,321, 5,174,909, 5,184,439, 5,288,051, and 5,965,053, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Prior forming systems and their panels included openings or channels which permitted attachment of accessories, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,053. However, those channels required the use of complementary nuts and bolts, clamps or pins with retainers to enable attachment of hardware and accessories such as tie bars, tie rods, braces, stiffbacks, supports and attachment of hardware and accessories such as tie bars, tie rods, braces, stiffbacks, supports and other forming accessories. Such loose parts are problematic at a construction site, being broken, misplaced or lost as the forming walls are disassembled or moved. Moreover, the location for receipt of these attachment members were limited and by necessity often were between reinforced areas of the forming panels and thus placed stress on portions of the panels in locations least configured to accept such stresses and strains.